I always cut my eggplant into thick rounds, and salt it. I then cover it with a heavy plate and maybe a thick book to weight it down, it only takes about 30 minutes to get the liquids out. To me, this makes a big difference in the taste of eggplant...no bitterness. I then rinse the eggplant and use it in my recipe.

re: eggplant - a simple way to avoid all the salting and rinsing is this - once the onions garlic etc are done add the eggplant separately and cook for a while before adding any other ingredients - this will remove the bitterness as it will cook off the fluid. Likewise if using green peppers/capiscum - personally I always go for red, yellow or orange.

Another thing to try - if you have the time - cook all the ingredients separately (with exception of mushrooms and garlic - great together) - only combine with the tomatoes at the end, a great tip from Keith Floyd, makes for a great flavour.

One last thing - never, ever forget a good healthy dose of red wine :-)

But, why would anyone ever saute their minced garlic before their onions? Any good chef will tell you that your garlic will be apt to burn especially in an olive oil which boils hotter than some other oils (like vegetable, canola, and others).

And, while we're on the topic of saute and flavour, you might want to experiment with a very small amount of sesame oil - it also boils very hot but it adds a beautiful aroma to the ratatouille.

But, why would anyone ever saute their minced garlic before their onions? Any good chef will tell you that your garlic will be apt to burn especially in an olive oil which boils hotter than some other oils (like vegetable, canola, and others).

This bothered me when I read it, but I didn't respond because the comment wasn't worth dignifying with a response. Any good chef would know how to saute their garlic before onions without burning the former. My mom often cooks this way--its gives the garlic time to release a deeper flavor, as my chef-instructors in cooking school taught me. And if there need be anymore proof, I give you an excerpt from the venerable James Beard's Beard on Food as he delivers his own Ratatouille recipe to his readers:

First, heat 1/2 cup oil--it can be olive or peanut oil, but olive oil definitely gives the best taste--in a heavy skillet and very gently saute 5 finely chopped garlic cloves. Add 1 1/2 cups chopped onion, and let that melt down and blend with the garlic ...

I've cooked your recipe a few times, always with the garlic first, as directed, and never burned my garlic once. Watch your temperature, and push the garlic around as needed--easy as that. Thank you for your recipe--it's awesome!

That's an All-Clad Stainless 8-qt. Stock Pot. One of my favorite pots to cook in - lots of space and high sides that keep messes contained. Thick aluminum clad with stainless makes it easy to see if food is browning and evenly heats so nothing burns - even when I stop stirring to take pictures.

Hi, that recipe really looks great, but I was wondering, of course, referring to the animated movie Ratatouille, I believe you have seen it already, I am very curious about the way he cooked ratatouille, by baking, with the sauce, which I think it might be tomatoes rather sweet. He put those pieces of vegetables without leaveing any space in between, and at the end put a flour wrapping on it, to reserve the water and flavour, to keep them sweet and soft. Is that anyway you can try it? I might be wrong about the theory. But it seems to be a very interesting method and it gives a very good appetite. I couldn't resist from it when I saw it on the movie.
Regrads, thank you for the recipe anyway, and sorry about my english.

The recipe from the New York Times (the link posted previously by Phong, above) is for Confit Byaldi and there is a short feature on the DVD if you rent the movie that shows Chef Thomas Keller making the recipe.

I made it last weekend and it was great. I don't understand about the "flour wrapper" though.

By the way, if anyone is under the illusion that the rat quickly knocked this out, there must have been several bottles of wine imbibed by the patron while he was waiting for this dish. It takes quite a while to make. Although it is very simple, there is a lot of prep work and it cooks a long time.

Hi! Just read your recipe and this sounds delicious! I am so glad I came across your website and forwarded it to my husband immediately, as he LOVES to cook, and is getting better than I am, altho will never admit it! I had Ratatouille once when I was a child (yes, I loved my veggies and still do!) and thought it was the best thing my Mom ever made, and she never made it again since that day. Go figure! I agree eating cold or room temp with toasted baguette or sliced french bread is delicious. There is a russian dish that is mostly eggplant, called "Ekra" that we cook, and it's always better the next day, cold or room temperature, made with eggplant, garlic, onion, tomato paste and ketchup (shhhh, ketchup really is a fabulous seasoning to cook with, or catsup, however you want to spell it). Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, and how you lay out the ingredients, cooking times, pictures, and the final recipe on the bottom of the page.

I just finished watching the movie Ratatouille and promptly found this site.
Being both an engineer and a good cook, I could imagine the flavors building and blending into one great dish as I read the receipe. I would like to write more but my stomach is growling, my mouth is watering and I am on my way out the door to buy the ingredients for tonights dinner...ratatouille.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:11 am Post subject: what is a less expensive wine to go with ratatouille?

In the delightful movie, the critic Ego asks for a glass of chavel blanc 1947. That is on Forbes list for the 10 most expensive wines at $33,781 for 750ml. Earlier he asks for Chateau La tour1961 that goes for E11,713.a bottle am i missing the irony of a so called peasant dish and expensive wine or is this just thrown in as part of the movie to impress us with theeducated test of the critic. my son Jimmy is a chef in Cincinnatti and he is making this for my Christmas present, the so called "peasant dish".

loved your ratatouille recipe. it was the best I ever made, helped of course by delicious Japanese eggplant and other locally grown ingredients here in Hawaii where I am vacationing. I found your site by accident- love the photos and clarity- have told my kids to check it out. thanks